Systems ecology

In order to truly characterise a (microbial) community, it is important to understand the overall characteristics of the community. This is especially critical in the context of the central dogma of life enunciated by Crick in 1958, i.e. DNA, RNA and proteins (Crick 1970). While metabarcoding allows one to identify species at various resolutions, other key questions are relevant for understanding community characteristics. Some of these questions include the following:

• Where do the species come from?
• Are there (dis)similarities between communities? If so, how do they manifest under differing and similar conditions?
• What are the longitudinal (across time) variations observed?
• What are the individual components doing within a diverse community?
• What are the factors influencing the community?

Approaches to address these questions include the study of ecosystems based on formal methods centred around `Systems Ecology` which includes systems thinking, synthesis and modelling (Patten 2014). Systems ecology emphasises a holistic and pragmatic approach to unravelling each of the questions raised above and in the context of environmental ecosystems, may be addressed via multi-omic strategies to some extent.

In this section you will explore more about the multi-omics strategies and advanced technologies applied in the biodiversity studies. You will also have an opportunity for you to check your learning